RB120 Bass Amp

Tube and solidstate amplifiers made by Rickenbacker

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rickenbrother
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Joined: Sun May 26, 2002 5:00 am

RB120 Bass Amp

Post by rickenbrother »

My latest Ricquisition is a RB120 Bass Amp that I just picked up today:
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A few scuffs and minor tears to the outside.
The speaker appears to be in good shape:
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Two input jacks on the right, an effects loop to the left.

I haven't figured out yet whether this output jack in the rear is a preamp/line out or if it is for an external speaker. If it is for an external speaker, what would be the minimum ohms the external cab could have?
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The serial number decoder on the RIC site was not able to date this amp, not really a big deal though.
I have not been able to find much info on RIC amps other than the schematics and diagrams on the RIC site and this site:
http://jzu.free.fr/rick/amp/index.html
I was hoping to contact the guy has that website, but he has no current contact link on it.

So far I've only plugged in my '75 4001 fretless. The tone is excellent, and I got plenty of fretless mwahh sound from the bass. I was surprised that the speaker cab is sealed, not front ported. like I think the TR50 is. The amp sounds great, but is not really as loud as I expected it to be. I'm assuming it is supposed to be 120 watts rms...though I didn't really lay into the bass yet when I played it and the pots and jacks do have to be cleaned up a bit, so that might help somewhat.
It's missing a yellow cap on the treble tone control knob, I doubt if knobs like this are still available somewhere.
If anyone has any other info on these amps, it would be appreciated.

They sound great together:
Image
The JETGLO finish name should be officially changed to JETGLO ROCKS! :-)
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rickenbrother
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Post by rickenbrother »

*crickets chirping*
The JETGLO finish name should be officially changed to JETGLO ROCKS! :-)
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johnhall
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Post by johnhall »

The output jack is indeed a line out- I used to have one of these and usually used this as a DI for recording.

It's been a long time since I've looked at one of these so my memory is a bit fuzzy. However, as I recall, this was the model that has an additional winding on the voice coil core which is connected to the power amp. It serves to sense where the cone is and adjusts the damping factor of the amp dynamically. If you have the cabinet open, see if there isn't an extra set of lugs on that speaker.

If you use the serial decoder, leave the two leading zeros off.
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rickenbrother
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Post by rickenbrother »

John, thank you very much for that info.

I'll probably take a look into the cabinet over the weekend.

Made in 1986.
The JETGLO finish name should be officially changed to JETGLO ROCKS! :-)
mtlbasslad
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Re: RB120 Bass Amp

Post by mtlbasslad »

Wow, looks just like my 'RB55' - except the control knobs are black with a red ring, & the Ric logo is at the bottom left.

Output jack is clearly labeled 'EXT SPKR MIN 4 OHMS' :?: :D
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